An iconic giant snowman welcomes visitors at the 37th Harbin Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Expo in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Dec. 8, 2024. (Photo/ecns.cn)

On Monday, China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT) announced plans for 12 winter tourism-themed travel routes across the country, aiming to further activate the ice and snow economy during the 2024-25 winter season.

The announcement was a concrete move after the guideline to promote development of ice, snow economy by the State Council on November 6, Jiang Yiyi, a vice dean of the School of Leisure Sports and Tourism at Beijing Sport University, told the Global Times on Monday, adding that it will play a leading role in activate winter tourism consumption.

The 12 travel routes are set in Beijing, Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality and Sichuan Province, the three provinces in Northeast China, North China's Shanxi Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Central China's Henan Province and Hubei Province, as well as Northwest China's Shaanxi Province and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the announcement shows.

These travel routes include winter sports venues, scenic spots, natural reserves, museums, and special festive events, set to further promote and expand ice and snow tourism-related consumption, said the MCT.

The ministry also called on efforts from local tourism authorities to enhance infrastructure and public services along the routes. In addition, local tourism sectors are encouraged to take advantage of folklore features to optimize tourism products, in order to improve social and economic benefits.

"There is a vast development space for China's ice and snow economy thanks to the nation's sufficient natural resources as well as technology edges," said Jiang. "Some provinces in South China have indoor ski parks to meet the demands of the locals."

She emphasized that the winter travel routes may largely ignite travelers' enthusiasm by clearly showing destinations that are worth visiting. They also integrate tourism resources in different places to form complete industry chains.

China vows to promote its ice and snow economy as a new growth point, with the goal of reaching an economic scale of 1.2 trillion yuan ($164.74 billion) by 2027, according to the guidelines issued by the State Council.

By 2030, the role of winter economy in expanding employment and promoting high-quality development will become more prominent, and the total economic scale of ice and snow consumption will reach 1.5 trillion yuan, according to the guidelines.